Kenya's president deploys army to Rift Valley to quell deadly violence fuelled by drought

The Kenyan army is to mount a major operation against militia groups that have seized white-owned farms and brought deadly violence to a swathe of the Rift Valley, the country’s president said on Friday.

Effectively framing the invasions of ranches as a rebellion, Uhuru Kenyatta declared the tribal militiamen behind the invasions of farmland and attacks on villages as “enemies of the state”.

Mr Kenyatta promised “to restore security and deal with those who continue to threaten the lives of Kenyans”.

The president’s call, which follows the murder of a British farmer, Tristan Voorspuy, on his ranch on the Laikipia plateau earlier this month, came as Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, met white farmers during a one-day visit to Kenya.

Mr Johnson lent his support to the military operation, which is meant to bolster a police mission that has so far failed to restore order in Laikipia and adjacent counties, saying it was a sign of the Kenyan government’s commitment to property rights.

“This is a very complex question and there are many factors at work,” Mr Johnson said. “But what is apparent to the government of Kenya is that there has to be absolute respect for the right to land and title.”

Not everyone in the affected regions is likely to share Mr Johnson’s optimism.

The president is standing for re-election in August and critics say he has been reluctant to take robust action for fear of alienating the Pokot and Samburu, the two tribes behind much of the violence.

Some white residents of the Laikipia region said they feared the president’s announcement amounted more to rhetoric than serious intent.

“Fine words butter no parsnips,” one said.

Aside from the invasion of white owned farms, Samburu and Pokot militiamen have carried out a series of attacks against other ethnic groups in recent months. The violence has been partly fuelled by competition for grazing following a drought, but much of it is also thought to have been motivated by politicians manipulating ethnicity in order to mount a land grab.

Earlier this week, a group of Pokot bandits attacked a village in Baringo, which borders Laikipia, killing seven women and four children.

More than 1,000 people were killed in ethnically motivated violence after a contested general election in Kenya in 2007 and the growing violence in the Rift Valley has again raised fears about the country’s stability.

Mr Johnson also visited British army training areas in Laikipia that lie close to areas that have been swept up in the violence. The crisis has so far not affected training operations.